1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique of supporting carry-in operation planning in order to efficiently draw up and update a carry-in operation plan of, for example, equipment using heavy machinery such as a crane (which may also be referred to as “carry-in target equipment” hereinafter) in constructing a plant.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with an increasing demand for power, there have been growing needs for constructing nuclear power stations in many parts of the world. More and more numbers of construction works of nuclear power stations have been thus conducted in many countries. In constructing a large-scale plant such as a power station, various types of works are performed in parallel such as ground preparation of a planned construction site, construction of a building, carry-in and installment of equipment, and piping. Those works are performed based on consensus and directions of different operating bodies in such fields as construction, civil engineering, manufacturing, or the like.
Such a large-scale plant construction undergoes three major stages, namely, designing, procurement, and construction.
Operations performed at the designing stage include designing of a plant building and an interior of the building, layout designing of equipment installed in the interior of the building, setting a carry-in procedure and a carry-in schedule, setting an area for temporarily placing machinery and equipment before being carried in a final position, setting a type or an operable range of heavy machinery for carry-in, or the like. Those operations are performed based on coordination through discussions among the operating bodies.
Next, at the procurement stage, materials, equipment, or the like which have been requested at the designing stage are procured. Procurement works are conducted such that a material is carried in the construction site according to a prescribed carry-in schedule.
Finally, at the construction stage, works using heavy machinery or the like are performed based on the carry-in procedure set at the designing stage. The heavy machinery or the like are operated within the operable range set at the designing stage so as not to cause interference with other operating body's operation.
It is thus important to draw up an efficient and highly accurate work plan at the designing stage in order to reduce a design change at respective stages and facilitate implementation of the entire works. Usually, a person of experience creates such a work plan at the designing stage. Recently, however, a less-experienced person is also required to create an efficient work plan, because a growing demand for plant construction has produced an increased number of work plans to be designed.
In drawing up a plant construction plan for a nuclear power station or the like, at the designing stage, a planner (or an operator) coordinates plural conditions such as a carry-in procedure of equipment into a building using heavy machinery such as a crane, a site arrival time schedule which is a time schedule showing when a carry-in target equipment arrives at a site, a temporary placement time schedule which is a time schedule showing when the equipment arrived is temporarily placed, a construction time schedule of a building as a carry-in target spot in which the equipment is carried, and other relevant time schedules. The coordination of such conditions makes it possible to draw up the most suitable plan for achieving an overall efficiency.
In a plant construction, an operation of carrying an equipment in a building using a crane sometimes has a large influence on the entire construction works. In particular, construction works of a nuclear plant sometimes use a large-sized equipment. A large-sized crane is used for carrying in such large-sized equipment. This means that an area at and around the building necessary for the carry-in operation (which may also be referred to as a “site”) may need to be larger and a time required for completing the works may be longer. Therefore, a carry-in operation planning of equipment using a large-sized crane is of great importance in planning a plant construction.
In planning a carry-in operation of equipment using a large-sized crane, coordination with other operation schedules is necessary. A carry-in target equipment is transported from outside of a site and is carried in the site at a site arrival time predetermined in a site arrival time schedule. The carry-in target equipment is temporarily placed in the site until a carry-in operation thereof is started. Such an area for the temporary placement is herein referred to as a “temporary placement area”. Other operations are also performed in parallel with the carry-in operation. Thus, the temporary placement area is set aside during a specified time period. In a period other than the prescribed time period, other operation can be performed in the temporary placement area. The temporary placement area is secured according to the temporary placement time schedule.
In carrying the carry-in target equipment in the building using a crane, a carry-in operation is performed based on an assumption that a floor including a carry-in target spot position (which may be simply referred to as a “carry-in target spot”) has already been constructed and that a space above the carry-in target spot position is free and open (which is hereinafter referred to as a “carry-in space available state”). Therefore, a person in charge of the planning references a construction time schedule, acquires data on a period during which a carry-in target spot position is in the carry-in space available state, and plans to perform a carry-in operation within the period. Note that, in one plant, dozens of pieces of equipment may be subjected to carry-in operations by a large-sized crane. The planner draws up a carry-in operation plan for each of the equipment.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application, Publication. No. 2001-249985 discloses that, in drawing up a carry-in operation plan, an equipment as an operation target and a construction procedure within a specific operation period are determined based on a three-dimensional model representing the equipment and a time schedule in which an operation targeting the equipment is conducted. The three-dimensional model and the construction procedure are separately handled. Thus, even if either one of them is updated, the update does not affect the other. This makes it possible to, for example, even if a time schedule in the construction procedure is updated, reduce influence on the other time schedule in the construction procedure and also reduce workload generated in connection with the update.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application, Publication No. 2002-266498 discloses that equipment state data corresponding to a construction process is created based on equipment data concerning equipment arranged in a building frame stored in CAD and construction process data concerning the building. Then the created equipment state data is displayed on a screen or the like. The display makes it possible to confirm a construction state and a work state in accordance with a construction process in time series. Thus, a user can easily know what is going on at a specific time in a given construction process.
As described above, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application, Publication No. 2001-249985 discloses that the three-dimensional model and the construction procedure are separately handled. Thus, even if either one of them is updated, the update does not affect the other. In the technique, however, if a plurality of construction procedures are necessary to complete of a single piece of equipment, and if one of the construction procedures is changed, it is difficult to reflect an influence generated by the change on the other construction procedures. This may make operations less efficient.
As described above, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application, Publication No. 2002-266498 allows an easy understanding of a change in the construction state with a passage of time. In the technique, however, if a user wants to know, for example, whether or not a carry-in operation using a crane is possible at a specific time or period, the user is required to manually perform the following: make a construction state at the specific time displayed; and confirm whether or not the equipment has already arrived at a site, an area for temporary placement has already been secured, and the equipment can be carried in a carry-in target spot position in a building. The technique thus has a difficulty in drawing up a construction plan more efficiently.